This is a Prince-Free Bash – Rebel Princess Review

I’ve been on a trick-taking tear recently, though that’s not necessarily reflected in my reviews (getting them played is another thing).

I have been buying a bunch of them, though.

One of them that I’ve actually played enough to review recently is a rather unique game called Rebel Princess.

It was designed by Daniel Byrne, José Gerardo Guerrero, Kevin Peláez and Tirso Virgós, with art by Alfredo Cáceres. The 2nd edition was published by Bezier Games in 2024.

Oh my god, that was last year! It’s not “current” anymore…

Anyway, if you’re an old-school trick-taking veteran, then this game will be very familiar to you. However, it adds a bunch of interesting twists and turns that just brings joy to this trick-taking fan’s heart.

The reason I reference old-school trick-taking games is because Rebel Princess is essentially Hearts, but with different suits.

This wouldn’t be much of a review if that’s all it was, though.

Oh, there is so much more.

If you want an explanation of how trick-taking games work, you can see my post on it.

In Rebel Princess each player is a princess who is attending a royal ball, but they don’t want to deal with these princes and their proposals of marriage.

Yes, they do!

The four suits in question are Queens, Fairies, Pets, and Princes.

Princes are bad.

Yuck, princes!

You want to avoid taking them, because as soon as a prince corners you, he’s going to propose marriage.

Masquerading amongst the pets, however, is the Frog Prince. The sneaky bastard just wants to catch you and make you his!

If you capture him by mistake, he’s worth 5 proposals.

And remember, proposals are bad.

Unless you take everything.

Yes, you can become “Rebel of the Ball” and take all the Princes and the Frog. In which case instead of gaining a bunch of proposals, you will lose 10.

I don’t know if that’s because you’ve somehow captured all the princes and the frog and locked them away in a room so they don’t bother anybody, making them angry enough that they definitely don’t want your hand in marriage anyway?

Thematically, I’m not sure how that works.

That would be a good idea.

Anyway, this is called “shooting the moon” in Hearts.

At the end of the round, each player gains proposals based on the princes and/or Frog that they won in tricks.

So yeah, this is basically Hearts (Queen of Spades = Frog Prince; Princes = Hearts; “Rebel of the Ball = “Shoot the Moon.”).

What sets this game above that one, though, are the variable princesses you can be and how the rounds work.

There are 5 rounds in the game (as opposed to playing to a certain score) and each round will have both a special effect as well as an indicator of how many cards (and which direction) you will be passing to another player.

Some effects are good. Some effects are bad. And some are just weird.

Late to the Ball has everybody trying to predict what they’re going to want to play in the last trick.

You don’t even know who will be leading that one.

In other words, don’t place the Frog Prince down. That’s way too unpredictable for you.

Other round cards will have limitations on what players can play.

There are a bunch of different round cards, making replayability very easy.

The final round (or at least it’s suggested that these only be used for final rounds) will consist of one of the four “huge effect” round cards.

These will really make you adjust how you play that final round.

Maybe Pets will also be proposals.

No! No, Fluffy, don’t propose!

Or maybe Fairies will be -1 proposal so you want as many of them as possible.

These can be nasty.

But don’t worry. Each princess is powerful in their own right.

Yes, you will be choosing to be a princess from an old fairy tale (though I think all of these have been Disney-fied at some point) and each princess has her own unique power that can change the game once per round.

If all you have is a high card in a given suit, if you’re Cinderella you could change the hierarchy so that the 1 will win the trick, not the 10!

The Ice Princess can randomize which card the lead player will play. Maybe it will be the Frog Prince!

These player powers are what makes Rebel Princess the game it is, and they add a ton of great gameplay.

This is not your grandmother’s trick-taking game.

The player powers add spice to a game that’s otherwise as old as the hills.

The round effects just add icing to that cupcake.

They make you think about what you’re going to have to do to avoid taking princes in your tricks.

Or you could have the Poisoned Apple, where being out of the led suit is actually bad.

Hell, one of them has you keep the last three cards in your hand as if you’d won them in a trick!

That’s the cool thing about Rebel Princess. You have to change up your expectations of normal trick-taking, and you have to do it each round. In a different way!

One of the strategies in trick-taking games is to short-suit yourself (meaning try to have as few of at least one suit as possible so you can avoid winning tricks by not following the lead suit).

But the Poisoned Apple will make you rethink that.

Nowadays, trick-taking games need some kind of hook or twist to be relevant. Otherwise, why not just use a basic deck of cards and play Spades or something?

Rebel Princess has that in…well, spades.

It’s not just a hook or a twist.

This turns the genre on its head a bit, because there’s a different twist each round (and the princess powers also add to this).

The rules are well-laid out and they do explain what “playing a trick” means. No assumptions there.

The round cards get some much-needed explanation for each one, because sometimes it’s not obvious from the card itself how to play that round.

The same goes for the princesses and their powers.

Rebel Princess plays 3-6 players, though I’ve only played it at 4.

It’s amazing at 4!

Five players would involve fewer tricks (8 instead of 10) as you take out the same number of cards as a 4-player game, while a 6-player game has you include all of the cards.

It should play pretty well at any player count.

This is a game that could easily be played with family members who are only familiar with the old trick-taking games, though it may require a little patience to explain how the rounds and princesses work.

Who knows? Grandma might have fun!

If it’s not obvious, I really love Rebel Princess and while it’s no Schadenfreude (my current favourite), it’s definitely high up on my list.

If you like trick-taking games at all, especially if you’re familiar with and like Hearts, you should definitely check it out.

(This review was written after 3 plays)